Hiccup, the Night Fury
by Nooku
Summary: What would happen if Hiccup could transform into a Night Fury? And what if he hated Astrid, to then become inseparable friends? My version of How to Train Your Dragon.
1. Chapter 1

This, is Berk. This lone island in the middle of nowhere. It's my homeland. In part. This pile of wet rock is twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death, located solidly in the Meridian of Misery. Sounds dark, I know, but the place itself is like this. Dark, almost lifeless, full of problems… My village is sturdy. In a word. There's no better way to describe it. And trust me, because I tried. This little village has been here for seven generations, and still, every single building is new. Even though everything around looks sad and anyone would expect nothing from us who live here, we gratefully have fishing, hunting and even charming views of the sunsets.

Now, I said there were problems here. These only problems are the pests, as the residents call them. I like referring to our 'pests' as animals fighting for life. Most places have these common problems, like mice or mosquitoes. But no. We are the exception. We are the black in a sea of white. Because we here have…

I open the heavy door of my house. My eyes meet with the figure of a Monstrous Nightmare, my ears encounter the sound of its strong wing beats, my heart races knowing all this. The huge dragon shoots liquid fire right at me. I react before I can even think. My back slams the door shut, right on time. The fire gets through the sides. "Dragons…!" I mutter for myself.

Dragons, the fire-breathing, bloodthirsty animals who raid us almost every night. Daytime is the very special exception. I take various breaths to steady myself, and get ready to go out. I slam the door open, smiling as I look all around me. Most people would live, but not us, we're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues. And dragons do too, that's why they keep coming. A Viking falls from the black night sky, probably flown way by an explosion caused by a dragon. I stop abruptly, proceed to run to the other side. A Viking running stops me again, so I try to run towards the other side. An axe falls feet away from my feet. Oh great, will I ever get a chance to continue?

Almost forgot. My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know, but it's not the worst around. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Heh, like if our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.

Finally with a chance to make my way up, I run past various Vikings. They tell me the same story I always get, "What are you doin' here?", "Get inside!", "Hiccup, what are you doing?", "Get back inside!" They never get tired. It's always the same, but yet none of them do anything to drag me back. Here, I'm the invisible boy. No one cares about me. Everyone ignores me, makes fun of me, hates me, whatever. I try not to care, but I _do _care, because it's not just once or twice, it's every time, every day.

As I run up the walkway, a Monstrous Nightmare gliding close to the ground shoots fire at the waving grass. I almost jump directly on the melting lava, if it wasn't for a huge hand that grabs the back of my shirt with a very angry, "Hiccup!" And I immediately recognize who it is. Enormous hand, commanding voice, who else could it be? "What is _he _doin' out agai- What are you doing out?" the man holding me off the ground asks around, pissed off. His face shows concentration and disdain. He shoves me forth, saying, "Get inside!"

That's Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe, best dragon killer alive. They say when he was just a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Stoick grabs a wooden cart, lifting it up like it was a simple tree branch. With an angry grunt, he throws it at the starry sky, that way hitting a passing Nadder. The cart shatters to pieces against the dragon's body, making it lose balance of flight for a moment. Technically, I don't quite believe Stoick's story. Not only because I hate him (he doesn't trust me, he doesn't listen to me, and many other negative things), but because it's basically impossible to leave a dragon headless while being a tiny baby.

Stoick nods triumphantly with his shoulders as he watches the dragon fly away with fierce on his eyes. He turns to one of his fellow men, asks calmly, "What do we got?"

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks," the man starts frantically. "Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare!" The Viking looks at his side, noticing how a dragon obscured by the shadows of the night is flying towards them. It blows fire, making an explosion that sends scorch flying around. The man takes cover on his shield, but Stoick doesn't even seem to care. Lowering his tone, he asks, "Any Night Fury?"

"None so far."

Stoick brushes a piece of flaming shrapnel off his shoulder plate. "Good." Night Fury. I have the feeling that I'm going to turn crazy whenever I hear that name. Oh boy, if they knew the secret behind this wonderful dragon. Yes, I called a dragon wonderful. I have many reasons to do so. What for others is a nightmare coming to life, is for me a dreamland that only lasts for some minutes. That's another reason of why everyone leaves me behind; no one likes my way of thinking. Well, I don't like theirs. See? Problem solved.

I hide behind a house quite far away from any dragon. From there, I see some of the teens: Snotlout trying to be cool, Fishlegs running awkwardly with his tiny legs, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut fighting over a water bucket (and breaking it in the process) and… Ugh, Astrid. For being the only girl of about my age around, she's detestable. Always caring about herself, making fun of me… I hate her. And she hates me. Astrid enters Gobber's stall. He's the man I follow, the one who lost a hand and a foot fighting against a dragon on his own. Quite the brave yet stupid thing to do.

I take a look around. Gronkles tear off the fish poles on the ground. They are chubby dragons, with a big head. Their jaws are wide, full off sharp teeth. Their eyes are side by side, but they don't have really good eyesight. Their wings are tiny, I still can't figure out how they can fly with that. Near them, various Deadly Nadders hop around roofs. They are known for being always blue, though I've seen some red and purple of them. Their tails are full of retractable venomous spikes, so it's not the good idea to fight against them. A Hideous Zippleback is around a house. Those things are sneaky and have two heads. One spreads gas around a house, and the other head ignites it, exploding the building to then fly away, passing by the catapult tower Stoick is in.

I hear a man yell, "They found the sheep!" After hearing that, I know it's my moment to act. As I run towards a cliff, I see a Monstrous Nightmare flying around Stoick. It ignites the lower part of the catapult, then ignites itself. It's kind of a nasty habit these dragons have. The Nightmare climbs the tower and bursts trough the walkway, giving Stoick a death stare. He spins his hammer around, muttering something I cannot hear, and smacks the dragon twice. The Nightmare counterattacks with a dangerous, vicious smack of its jaws, thing that Stoick dodges. Now, it's the time. They are busy, expecting a visit. _My _visit. The maximum prize, they say, is the dragon no one's ever seen. Why no one? Well, first, it's black. Second, it's fast. How do I know this if no one's ever seen it, you ask? It's just because…

_I'm _that dragon.

I'm a Night Fury. The unholy offspring of lighting and Death itself. I was born a half-dragon half-Viking, with no idea of how, with no idea of why. Night Furies aren't common dragons. There's only one. And they have it around all the time. When they play with me as a human, they play with fire when I'm a Night Fury. It's my darkest secret. My only secret to keep. If Vikings knew I'm a dragon, they would either kill me or banish me. If dragons knew I'm a Viking, they would kill me for sure.

This is my real side. When I'm a Night Fury, I'm power unleashed. I can make everyone pay for what they do to me. I just wait for nighttime, transform, and have some fun. I am black, jet-black, perfect to blender with the sky. No one sees me, but no one can un-hear me. I have two large wings, along with two side fins and two tail fins to keep me stabilized and give me extra speed and balance in flight. My head, flat, has eight ears, three on each side, the upper ones the longer and the lower ones the shorter, and two others placed between the main ears. My eyes change completely from human to dragon. When I'm this fishbone they call Viking, my eyes are innocent and don't show this power all Vikings show. When I'm a Night Fury, however, they are huge, lime green, with black pupils that can change in size depending on my mood. I'm the perfect dragon. Everyone knows it.

I dive-bomb. My wings make a subsonic whine as I near Stoick's catapult tower. The Nightmare goes away, knowing I'm coming. Stoick looks at the sky, uselessly searching for me. I hear it, the desperate yell they always scream when I'm close, "Night Fury!", "Get down!"

And I shoot. I don't have fire or lava like the other dragons. I shoot plasma balls, the most powerful dragon weapon there is for sure. The catapult shatters to pieces. I'm _so_ having fun right now. "_Jump!_" yells Stoick, hopping down the exploding tower. I dive again. I shoot again once everyone is clear of my path. The next, I glide around, seeing how everyone runs and yells and looks at the sky. I'm the son of the sky. When I fly, I don't feel the cold, I just feel free. I close my eyes in delight as the wind gently strokes my wings. It's so peaceful, it feels great up here. You don't care about anything or anyone. It's just me and the whispering wind who greets me as I fly by. Yes, it's good to be a dragon. It's good to be your own dragon.

Having relaxed enough, I search for another tower to blow up. I see one, near a cliff, perfect for me to destroy. I dive towards it, narrowing my eyes, concentrating. I shoot, fly through the explosion, and I could have sworn I just saw Astrid with a bola launcher. But I must be dreaming. She never goes alone when the powerful Night Fury is around. Suddenly, a bola wraps my body. My legs, wings and one of my side fins are tangled. I lose flight. I lose balance. I lose everything that made me powerful up here. I scream as I fall at an outstanding speed towards the forest. This is going to hurt.

I hit the ground with immense force. Part of my body and my tail rip in half a tree, I scream louder, feeling a horrible pain on the tip of my tail. I fall down a terrain elevation, hit the ground again, and lose consciousness.

They brought me down.

Me. A Night Fury.

Has been brought down.

Nothing makes sense now.


	2. Chapter 2

I feel awoken. I don't know how many time I had been there, alone, tangled, lying on the ground, still feeling pain from the fall. I open my eyes. Everything is blurry and spins around slowly. No sounds around me. I catch glimpse of some birds flying around. I blink various times, moaning. Yes, I'm still there. It wasn't a nightmare. I've really been shot down. I look at my body. Legs, wings and part of my tail bounded on the rope. My ears twitch as I let my head fall down. I'm dizzy. I still feel pain. It's daytime, so I must have been here for hours.

I breathe heavily, the rope adding extra difficulty to it. I knew our bolas were strong, but had no idea they were _this _strong. Enough to hold down the fury of the night. I think of becoming Hiccup the Useless again, so the rope will unbound from me, and hopefully I will get this pain on my tail away. But something stops me. Footsteps. And a faint voice. Somebody's coming. Probably the one who brought me down. There's no time to transform, or to hide. I'm _so_ tired, I feel so… Weak and defenseless right now. If someone ever gets near me I will simply shoot a plasma ball at them – but I'm still a Viking. I can destroy structures, but I can't kill my own.

The voice gets closer. It's a female voice, young and firm. I hear a slap, sounding like the person about to find me just smacked a branch. And another one, sounding like the branch took revenge. Pretty much that was it, because I hear a pained, "Ow!" afterwards. And then, any sound stops. No birds chirping. No wind waving the leaves. Only my heavy breathing. But I hear them again. After a long pause, footsteps slide down the ground. I see a head peeking over the embankment in front of me, an immediately hides back there with an alarmed gasp. I stop breathing and fake my death. It's better to not deal with this person directly.

I close my eyes and simply wait. She will either walk away- wait. I'm a Night Fury, the dragon everyone wills to kill. It's impossible that the girl is going to walk away like nothing. She saw me, I'm sure, and she knows what I am. There's no other black dragon in the world, or at least, I haven't seen one. Ever. Not in the Nest, not in Berk, nowhere. The sound of a knife being pulled up catches my fine hearing. I can't move and I won't move. I have to make this person believe I'm dead.

I hear her footsteps coming down. She's close, but I don't dare to see where. It will blow the whistle. I finally hear her voice clearly, "Oh wow. I- I… I _did_ it." This voice sounds familiar. Yes, it's someone young. I just can't put in place who it is. "Oh I did it, this- this fixes everything! _Yes_!" A boot is placed on my tied up foreleg. She's taking too much confidence. To this point I arrive. "I have brought down this mighty beast- _Ah!" _I shake my leg, pushing the girl away. I hear her low, steady breathing now. She's nervous and scared. That security is gone. I start breathing again. I needed to, anyways. I couldn't hold it anymore. I then open my eye.

Oh no.

It's Astrid. _Astrid_. From all the people who could have found me, it had to be _her_. Now I can't become the human Hiccup again. She will kill me in shock or tell the village. None of these can happen. But I'm a dragon. She's a Viking. And she has a knife. That, horribly, equals to my death. I look at her. With fear. I didn't want to be afraid at all. But I can't do anything. She, however, can. There's a difference of power right here. Astrid looks at me, the knife pointed at my chest. I groan, trying to force her to look at my eyes, as she was starting to focus on my body. I had always convinced dragons to do things by making them look at me right at my eyes. I don't know if it will work with Astrid, or with people in general. She takes two huffs, trying to get the fright away from her.

"I'm going to kill you, dragon." she tells me, narrowing her eyes. Taking a good hold of the blade's hilt, she continues, "I'm gonna- I'm gonna take out your heart and take it to the chief. I'm a Viking." She looks fiercely at me. "I'm a _Viking_!" There's nothing left to do, aside from the stare. Which seems to not be working. Astrid, the person I most hate in this world, is going to kill me, without even knowing who I am. She holds the knife by the hilt, tightly, taking secure breaths. Closing her eyes, she pulls the blade up. Oh if I could be normal again. This wasn't bound to happen. This shouldn't happen. This shouldn't be happening. But it is, to my misfortune.

Astrid opens an eye, then the other. I widen my pleading eye. Lift up my head. Even a dragon can feel, and right now I'm feeling shame, hate and fear. Not a good combination to feel. Astrid's eyes widen. She looks to be repenting her action. But she looks away, closing her eyes and lifting up the knife again. Nothing. There's nothing left, not even the stare. I close my eyes, let my head fall with a moan. Being a dragon has its consequences. And I accept it. I'm the invisible boy, anyways. No one will miss me. But there's no death here. Astrid doesn't do anything. I haven't got the desire to look at her now. It's just waiting.

"I did this…"

One of my ears lifts up, slowly and carefully so Astrid doesn't notice. Did she actually say that? Basically meaning she's sorry? She's going away, I know. Thanks Odin. After she's gone, I will be able to go away and pretend this never happened. Suddenly, one of the ropes holding me is cut off. My eye flies open. Astrid is freeing me. She is, she truly is, as when I look behind I see her cutting away the ropes. My legs are free. I now can. I now can show her what happens when you play with the fury.

I spring up to my hind legs, see how Astrid moves back on all fours towards a boulder. I pounce, now having her pinned down underneath my foot. I stare again. But now with fear. With anger, with hatred. Astrid looks desperately at me. The roles twisted. I'm the one who has the power now. I'm finally having the chance of showing Astrid how much I hate her. How much I hated, hate and will hate her. I rear back, showing Astrid my nightmare grin. The gas is already building up on my throat.

But I can't do it.

I'm still a Viking. Astrid spared me, something no one else would ever do. Not even Fishlegs. The decision is not hard after thinking. I slam both legs on Astrid's sides as I scream out my anger with a deafening roar. I turn around and fly away, searching for a place far away from the village so I can transform. There's only one problem, though. I can't fly well. I can't stabilize my glide. I start flying to my side unwillingly and I crash on a rock wall. I'm falling, but I manage to soar to evade a rough fall. This can't be. I can't fly. How is it possible? I'm the best flier. The fastest and smoothest dragon.

I end up soaring down a cove. An enormous lake of clear water is in the middle. There are various boulders all around and several trees. I land roughly near the shore of the lake, using my claws to stop. What is happening to me? Why can't I fly? I beat my wings four times, dust flying around me. I look behind, at my tail.

And my eyes widen in horror.

My tailfin. My left tailfin. Is gone.

Of course I can't fly. Without my tailfin, I'm not a Night Fury. Without my flight, I'm not the son of the sky, I'm not a dragon. I grit my teeth, my breathings become massive gasps of anger. I rear up and slam my feet on the ground as I roar at the sky.


	3. Chapter 3

I spin around, always looking at the floor, unable to hold my anger and sadness at the same time. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me. When I'm a Viking, the teens mock me and the peaceful sky helps me feel better. Now that I'm a flightless Night Fury, it's the sky the one who mocks me. I can hear it, telling me to go up there. I stop curling and lie down. My eyes focus on the smooth clouds only. I miss feeling the wind, the touch of the clouds when I surf inside them, and the only though of not being able to ever fly again…

I shake my head, trying to get these thoughts away like dust that sticks in your body. I start to think of other things. It pops up in my head that first time I became a Night Fury. Yeah, I remember it so well. I was so young and small, alone at home, wrapped on warm, white blankets on my comfortable cradle. I was at my own, sleeping like the baby I was, with my father gone somewhere. Now that I'm on it, there's one more thing you need to know: Stoick, that man I hate and who's better than me on every single thing – except being a wonderful dragon – is my father. Quite hard to believe, right? Not all sons hate their fathers, but hey, Stoick rarely ever _truly _stood up for me.

Back in my past thoughts, I remember how I somehow transformed into my dragon-self. I remember how I shook my ears all the time, how I paddled with my wings and legs, how I played with my tail, waving it from left to right. I remember that first fall I had, while trying to stand up. How I ended upside-down and tried to get back to my feet. So good memories. I also remember my first flight, when I was a playful kid. I climbed up the roof and jumped off. I only managed to glide for some seconds before a kinda rough fall, but it was still a flight that I will never forget.

I get up, look around me. Everything is peaceful, calm, but I still need to go back home. Oh I'm so excited to do so… No, not really. But then- I can't become my human-self again. I'm still a dragon. Great. This already happened; sometimes, if one of my forms is hurt or too tired, I can't become one or another. I remember this from that day where I was flying across the sea and salt water splashed on my eyes. I couldn't become Hiccup again for some hours, as I got a pretty great amount of salt on my eyes, fragile with that kind of things. Now that I lost a part of me, well, I don't even want to know how much time I will have to wait to become Viking again.

I roll my eyes with an annoyed grunt. If I'm going to stay like my most preferred form for Odin knows how many time, I will have to do something in the meanwhile. Maybe try and fly out of here. I extend my wings as I look at a rock wall. I smirk, prepare to take flight. I run towards a medium-sized rock to take boost and launch myself. I don't feel stabilized. I stutter, my wings shake, my tail moves without any control of mine, pushed by the wind. I hang on to the wall with my claws and try to climb up, but it's impossible. I soar down, right next to the lake, and see the entrance of the cove up there in another rock wall. I prepare myself again, jump and beat my wings with all my strength. I try and try and try to fly well, but it feels like I'm either too heavy or too light to maintain myself airborne.

I hang on with my claws on the edge of the entrance, grit my teeth, try to help me up with my hind legs. Impossible. I let myself fall until I'm close enough to the ground to extend my wings and soar.

No.

I have to keep trying.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The whole day I've been here, and I still didn't get out. Not even close. I use a rock to boost myself up and direct towards a rock wall near the cove's entrance. I make out a desperate gurgle noise as I try to hang on, letting small stones fall down. Unable to climb I shout an angered roar and proceed to soar above the lake, to then land roughly with my wings still extended, begging the sky to let me join it again. I need to get out of here. I'm already tired. I don't want to stay here, I just want to go to bed and forget about everything that happened to me in such a small portion of time.

I jump on a boulder and fly again. The first couple of wing beats are strong and pure, like they always are, and I feel like I'm finally going to become the son of the sky again. But then I stumble to my side. I desperately try to gain back balance, but I just can't. I fall. Again. For the millionth time. My legs ache, tired of stopping me from getting badly hurt on a fall. I turn towards a rock wall near me, try to climb up, this time helping me with wing beats. I realize I shouldn't have taken that risk, because I fall hard on my back. I try the same thing again, letting my anger flow. This time I manage to turn before I fall that way again, but the land this time is truly painful. I beat my now wide wings as I growl, tired, dazed, hurt, but still not giving up.

I roar at the trees, at the birds, at the sky, at the clouds. I want to fly. I want to be a real dragon. I shoot a plasma ball some meters away from me, sending grass and rocks away, and snort. I wit some seconds and take to the skies again. _I will fly, I have to fly, I will fly, _I tell myself in my head all the time. The flight starts out good, but again I fall, bouncing on the ground. I moan, seeing how there is no chance. I can't convince myself, I can't fly. Not with a missing tailfin.

Movement in the water catches my attention. Fish. Food, in other word. Raw, living fish. I would never eat that if I was a human, but a Night Fury has other plans. If I could catch a fish… That would give me some hope. I stand up, walk towards the water. I hobble. My legs are truly hurt. The water is so clear I can see the deepest thing. Two fishes swim peacefully feet away from my mouth. I snap twice. But I don't have anything. Luck is gone. Gone from my side. It abandoned me like my tailfin did. I lie down, completely hopeless, snorting away a couple of fallen leaves. I'm about to sleep, when a pencil falls down here.

A pencil…

That's what it sounded like. My ears lift up, my eyes wide. I slowly stand up and look at the entrance of the cove, where the sound came from. And surprisingly see Astrid there. Staring at me with fear and confusion. She came back. After everything, she came back. To see if I was still here. I purr with distrust. She doesn't look harmful at all, but I can't really trust her. Not as a dragon. And probably even less as a human. She rears back and tilts her head. She's showing me confusion. She's dumbfounded. And I kinda am too. I mirror her action, but not looking peaceful at all – I don't want her to think I'm her friend. I would never be her friend. Never.

Never.


End file.
